Leading with Love for a Healed World

In just a few days, the nation will cast their votes in an election that, as many others before it, has been declared the most significant in history. It will dramatically change our lives either for better or worse, they say. The truth is that it won’t. Everything will pretty much stay the same. The rhetoric filling our media outlets is a sign of a deeply troubled nation in profound conflict with itself.

Clearly, something has gone wrong and everyone is ignoring the obvious solution given to us by Jesus now thousands of years ago. The world in his time was just as divided as it is today. Clearly, the “solution,” physical or verbal violence, has been ineffective. So-called non-violent protests have not fared much better, often only contributing to raising the volume of the verbal abuse.

Jesus’ solution is love. The birth of Jesus was “good news that will cause great joy for all the people”, the beloved Christmas story declares in Luke 2:10. Later, Jesus himself provides the details about how: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments” (Matthew 22:37-40). Clearly love occupies a central place in his teaching. The intentions behind the Law of Moses were nothing but good and valuable, but it fell short in the hands of flawed and selfish people as frequently pointed out by the prophets. Love is what fixes it.

So how exactly are we to do that? Loving one another means to be a blessing to everyone else at all times. Our very purpose for being is to enhance the lives of others. When enough people begin to do that, the suffering in the world will begin to go down. As more and more people experience abundant life replacing suffering the more people will see that love is the Way. Plant a mustard seed (Matthew 13:31).

However, individually we can do very little. Together we can accomplish anything. That is what Matthew 19:26 means: “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” The early church illustrated this perfectly with their example: “All the believers were one in heart and mind” (Acts 4:32). Yes, go ahead. Make that donation to your favorite charity, but realize that what is really needed is a radical transformation in the way we treat and relate to one another.

Christian Economics

 

The study of human nature involves a fascinating journey into several complex scientific disciplines. Curiosity is the driving force behind this desire to understand ourselves and the world around us. Most of us have some of it and a few have it in abundance.

In Acts 2:32-35, Luke describes the economics of the early church. 

The first thing he points out is that the believers “were of one heart and soul.” There was no division among them. They were all pulling in the same direction, loving God and loving one another.

The second thing he points out is that “no one said that any of the things that belonged to him was his own,” Nothing triggered their survival instinct that there might not be enough for everyone. They trusted the community to provide. They trusted God, we would say. There was no reason for anyone to hoard anything, so “they had everything in common.”

The third thing he points out is that “[T]here was not a needy person among them.” Those who had something trusted that everyone would be taken care of “as any had need.”

Possessions tend to separate us into those who have and those who do not. In Christian economics, no one is left out, no one is in need. How is this possible? Aren’t the leaders going to keep it all for themselves? No, not if we are all of one heart and soul and believe that the Earth has enough resources that everyone can be taken care of as they have need. 

The story about the rich young ruler in Mark 10:17-27 illustrates this perfectly. Possessions are what keeps us out of Heaven. Possessions are what keeps us all from enjoying abundant life. It is not enough to tax the rich. We must all agree to quit hoarding things and trust that there is enough for everyone.

The Future For Us

 

We have spent some time now in this space debunking some of the myths promoted by the church for centuries:

The Bible is not the word of God. It has been written by a number of writers, some of whom are still unknown. None of their original writings exist anymore. All we have are copies of copies of copies with or without accidental and deliberate errors.

God is not a supernatural being outside the universe who created it and everything in it and who controls everything going on even today. God is the product of these ancient writers’ collective imagination. Humans are story-telling people. The Bible is their stories.

Jesus is not God. He was a man, a Jew with a new and revolutionary interpretation of the ancient writings. He did not die for our sins. He did not come back from the dead and he is not going to come back again.  There were no shepherds, angels or wise men. There were poor people, though. His birth was good news for them. People with power and wealth, on the other hand, felt threatened by his many followers and had him killed. 

There was no actual resurrection. People do not come back from the dead. Some do tend to live on in the memories of the people they encountered in life. Sometimes their impact is felt well beyond their physical presence. Jesus was such a man. We’re still talking about him today. Some try their best to follow his teachings, but he is not going to come back. The hope we have is that if enough of us were to follow his teaching a real manifestation of the Kingdom of God, the Garden of Eden, will be restored.

There are no miracles. Mary was not a virgin, but a woman who had a child outside of wedlock just like some women today. Miracles do not make the blind see and the lame walk. Proper healthcare does.

Does that mean we are no longer Christians - unbelievers? Lots of people still cling to these old teachings that are no longer relevant. For them, we are heathens and heretics. We may even deserve nothing but hellfire. There may still even be some learned pastors who believe it, but some don’t. They may have believed it once, but no longer. Yet, they continue to teach it. After all, they need the job. One church found it necessary to write “must believe in God” in its job post for a new pastor. Clearly, personal belief in the old concept of God is no longer a given among pastors. 

We are the true believers. In a sense, we have to go back to his original teachings in order to go forward.